On the heels of a megadeal, Google does it again

Tech giant reaches agreement for major expansion on West Side pier

Days after the news that Google’s parent company is purchasing a building next to the tech giant’s New York headquarters for $2.4 billion, Google has reached a tentative deal to grow even more in the city.

Under the proposed arrangement, the $700 billion company will expand at Pier 57, a large building on the Hudson River across the West Side Highway from West 15th Street.

Google had previously agreed to lease 250,000 square feet at the complex and will now add another 70,000 to its offices there. It will lease an additional 50,000 square feet for public, cultural and educational activities and will also create a landing for ferry service.

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Hudson River Park Trust, the city and state entity that manages park space along the river and controls Pier 57, presented the proposal to Community Board 4 at a meeting Thursday evening to receive commentary from the public. Madelyn Wils, the president and CEO of the trust, said that its board would vote within the next few months on whether to approve the deal, depending on the feedback it receives.

“We want to make sure that the community is good with this,” Wils told Crain’s. “We think that they’re getting a lot and we hope that they like it.”

If the deal goes through, Google will create a 5,000-square-foot public space on the south side of the pier that will feature views of the harbor and 24,000 square feet of community and education space located partially in an underwater caisson at the pier—a watertight basement level that was built to provide the pier with enough buoyancy to float.

Wils said that the trust will use a portion of that space for the 400 educational programs it hosts annually for children about climate change and the wildlife and plants in the estuaries of the Hudson River.

“Google acknowledged our education program and offered to give us a space here so we can expand our teaching,” Wils said. "We’re exploring the possibility to have a virtual-reality space where people could actually look and see what’s in the water.”

Seth Pinsky, an executive vice president at RXR Realty, which along with the real estate firm Youngwoo & Associates is handling the $350 million redevelopment of the once-derelict pier building, said that Google would also host technology education programs for disadvantaged city youth and use the space periodically for product and technology demonstrations.

“What makes this such an exciting announcement is that Google is committing to make a very significant contribution to the public,” Pinsky said.

RXR and Youngwoo said they will provide Hudson River Park Trust with roughly $20 million of proceeds from the expanded lease with Google over its 15-year term to help fund the entity’s operating budget. Lease terms were not disclosed

The deal would repurpose a large portion of space that was originally envisioned as a cavernous food market, which the celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain had at one time been negotiating to operate. Under the revised plan, that food market will shrink to about 40,000 square feet, about 100,000 fewer than originally envisioned.

The pier’s ground floor will also include 20,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, including pop-up stores. Another restaurant will be located on the pier’s roof, which will also feature a large public park.

RXR has stated it is aiming to finish the pier project by the end of 2019.